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Modeling Chilean Mathematics Teachers’ Instructional Beliefs on Problem Solving Practices

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Abstract

This study was designed to examine predictors of instructional beliefs related to problem solving that influence mathematics in-service teachers’ practices in the Chilean context. A total of 713 in-service mathematics teachers from various elementary schools participated in the survey study during 2015 and 2016. Results showed that teachers’ traditional beliefs are directly associated with their teacher-centered practices, while there was an indirect relation among reformed beliefs and student-centered practices through teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and their beliefs about the value of problem solving. This association among beliefs and practices suggests that educators and policy makers should be aware of, when designing a teacher professional development, the need to emphasize other variables such as teachers’ self-efficacy and value of the task.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the ARPA team—mentors, teachers, and researchers, specially Dr Lisa Darragh—for their support and interest in this work.

Funding

Funding from FONDEF ID14I20338 and PIA-CONICYT Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence Project FB0003 is gratefully acknowledged. VG thanks the CONICYT-PCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2013 21130684. FS is also grateful to the support of CONICYT/Fondecyt Postdoctoral Project 3170673.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación (CIAE), Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Farzaneh Saadati, Gamal Cerda, Cristian Reyes & Patricio Felmer

  2. Departamento es de Metodología de la Investigación e Informática Educativa, Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

    Gamal Cerda

  3. Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua, Chile

    Valentina Giaconi

  4. Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM), Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Cristian Reyes & Patricio Felmer

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  1. Farzaneh Saadati
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  2. Gamal Cerda
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Correspondence to Farzaneh Saadati.

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Saadati, F., Cerda, G., Giaconi, V. et al. Modeling Chilean Mathematics Teachers’ Instructional Beliefs on Problem Solving Practices. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 17, 1009–1029 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-018-9897-8

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